Peshawar: IDPs protest against not receiving aid

The internally displaced persons (IDPs) protested against non-availability of aid in front of World Food Programme Centre on Grand Trunk (GT) Road.

The protesters raised slogans against governments and administration of the centre and also blocked the road. The protesters were of the view that the administration of the World Food Programme Centre was involved in corruption and distributes the aid items among undeserved persons.

Bajaur Agency: Suicide blast kills 44, injures 72

At least 44 people were killed and 72 injured in a blast in Khar, district headquarters of Bajaur Agency in FATA, trendpk.com reported on Saturday.

According to details, the blast occurred in front of a Civil colony at a check point and World Food Programme building was also near the blast place. A woman suicide bomber reached at the point and blew herself up, due to which 44 people were killed and several others sustained severe injuries. The attack took place when more than 300 people were gathered outside World Food Programme building to receive food rations. Security forces and police reached the spot and cordoned off the area and started search operation. Rescue teams were also reached the blast place and started relief activities. The injured are being shifted to hospital where emergency was declared and paramedics staff was called.

Russian pilots kidnapped in Darfur

Three Russian pilots have been kidnapped in Darfur, in Sudan. The UN World Food Programme, for which the pilots work, confirmed the news.
The governor of South Darfur, Abdel Hamid Kasha, told that it was not known who the kidnappers were and that they were being pursued. This is the latest in a series of kidnappings of foreign aid workers in Darfur in recent months. Ransoms are usually demanded.
Since President Omar al-Bashir was indicted in 2009 by the International Criminal Court for war crimes allegedly committed in Darfur, the situation for humanitarian workers has greatly deteriorated.
About 300,000 people have died since fighting began in 2003, and some 2.7 million people have fled their homes as a result of the conflict.
Rebel movements in Darfur have been fighting government soldiers and Arab militias, backed by Khartoum.

Three Russian pilots kidnapped in Darfur

KHARTOUM: Three Russian helicopter pilots were kidnapped in the South Darfur capital Nyala, the South Darfur governor Abdel Hamid Kasha said on Friday.

The U.N. World Food Programme confirmed three pilots contracted to them had been kidnapped in Nyala on Thursday but could not give further details.

“Yesterday there were three Russian helicopter pilots kidnapped by unknown men and the security people are chasing them,” Kasha told Reuters from Nyala, the centre of a spate of recent kidnaps for ransom.

Kasha said he believed the kidnappers were the same as those who abducted Russian airmen in Nyala in August.

The pilots were taken from a minibus in the centre of the town on Thursday about two hours before sundown, he said.

Russia directed rare criticism at ally Sudan for being unable to stop the kidnapping of foreigners for money in the

One billion hungry on World Food Day: UN

NEW YORK: The United Nations has called for a united front against hunger on World Food Day, with nearly one billion people suffering from food shortages worldwide.

“We are continually reminded that the world’s food systems are not working in ways that ensure food security for the most vulnerable members of our societies,” UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in his message for World Food Day, which is Saturday, October 16.

“When people are hungry, they cannot break the crippling chains of poverty, and are vulnerable to infectious diseases,” the UN secretary general noted.

“When children are hungry, they cannot grow, learn and develop,” Ban added.

On October 11, a new global hunger index released by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) showed that one billion people face hunger this year.

The 2010 Global Hunger Index

One billion hungry on World Food Day: UN

NEW YORK: The United Nations has called for a united front against hunger on World Food Day, with nearly one billion people suffering from food shortages worldwide.

“We are continually reminded that the world’s food systems are not working in ways that ensure food security for the most vulnerable members of our societies,” UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in his message for World Food Day, which is Saturday, October 16.

“When people are hungry, they cannot break the crippling chains of poverty, and are vulnerable to infectious diseases,” the UN secretary general noted.

“When children are hungry, they cannot grow, learn and develop,” Ban added.

On October 11, a new global hunger index released by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) showed that one billion people face hunger this year.

The 2010 Global Hunger Index

Crime adds to misery for flood victims

MEHMOOD KOT: Crime and the sale of donated aid supplies are undermining the aid effort for Pakistan’s flood victims.

In Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s provincial capital Peshawar, flour bags and tins of cooking oil bearing the logos of international aid agencies like the World Food Prgramme and USAID are openly on sale.

“We bought them from the victims,” said shopkeeper Abdul Ghafoor, who owns a shop in Peshawar’s Gur Mandi. “They get money and buy something else which they need more.”

“It cannot happen without officials’ involvement,” said another shopkeeper, Rahimullah Khan. “Victims cannot bring a truck full of supplies here.”

One Reuters reporter saw flour being unloaded in a market from a truck labelled “Relief Goods for Flood Affected People, from Islamic Relief”.

The goods are then sold at cheaper prices than usual.

“I can save 300

”Triple threat” stalks flood-hit Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The World Food Programme on Tuesday warned that flood-ravaged Pakistan faced a “triple threat” after the worst disaster in the country”s history left eight million people dependent on aid to survive.

Torrential monsoon rains triggered massive floods that have moved steadily from north to south over the past month, engulfing a fifth of the volatile country and affecting 17 million of Pakistan”s 167 million people.

The floods have washed away huge swathes of the rich farmland on which the country”s struggling economy depends.

“There is a triple threat unfolding as this crisis widens and deepens,” World Food Programme chief Josette Sheeran said at a press conference with other United Nations officials in Islamabad, after visiting flooded areas.

“People have lost seeds, crops and their incomes, leaving them vulnerable to hunger, homelessness and desperation — the situation is extremely critical,” she said.

Anthony Lake, chief of the UN children”s fund Unicef, said that the disaster had affected nearly 8.6 million children.

“In many ways it is a children”s emergency,” Lake said.

“There is also a potential second wave of death from waterborne diseases. This is likely to get much worse if we can”t reach people with clean water, adequate nutrition, sanitation and vaccination,” he said.

Meanwhile floodwaters swept towards two small southern towns as authorities managed finally to plug a breach in defences across the Indus river at nearby Thatta city.

Pakistani troops and city workers had been battling over the weekend to save Thatta, with most of the population of 300,000 fleeing the advancing waters.

“Thatta city has been declared safe after a breach in the river caused by floods at nearby Faqir Jo Goth village was fully plugged,” senior city official
Hadi Bakhsh Kalhoro said.

But he said the fast-moving waters that left the low-lying town of Sujawal submerged on Sunday were now threatening the towns of Jati and Choohar Jamali, where official warnings have been issued to residents to evacuate.

“We are making efforts to save the two towns which have a combined population of more than 100,000,” Kalhoro said.

Most people had already returned to Thatta, he said, on the western bank of the swollen Indus.

But inundated Sujawal was mostly empty on Tuesday, as water flowed down its streets and troops offloaded rubber boats from their vehicles to rescue the remaining few, a witness said.

Sindh government spokesman Jameel Soomro said that 147 people had been killed in the province, mostly as a result of disease triggered by the floods, and most of them women and children.

Southern Sindh is the worst-affected province, with 19 of its 23 districts ravaged as floodwaters have swollen the raging Indus river to 40 times its usual volume.

One million people have been displaced over the past few days alone.

Pakistan”s government has confirmed 1,645 people dead and 2,479 injured but officials warn that millions are at risk from food shortages and disease.

2 persons shot dead in Kharadar, Karachi

Staff Report

KARACHI: Two persons have been shot dead by unknown gunmen’s firing in Kharadar, SAMAA reported on Wednesday.

According to details provided by the police, some unknown gunmen came to Kharadar on motor-bikes and forced shop keepers with firing to close the shops.

After receiving information, the police rushed to the scene and started counter firing on the miscreants to bring them under control.

During the exchange of fire, two persons have been killed by the firing of the unknown gunmen.

The dead bodies of the deceased have been moved to the Civil Hospital and police have started their investigation about the unknown miscreants. SAMAA

Gen. Kayani visits flood affected areas of Punjab; Sindh

Staff Report

RAWALPINDI: The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani visited flood affected areas of Southern Punjab and Sindh on Tuesday.

According to a press release of Inter Services Public Relations, Pakistan (ISPR), he flew over the flooded areas and stopped at Multan, Nawabshah, Kotri Barrage and Thatta, and witnessed the relief activities.

Local military commanders briefed him about the progress of rescue and relief operations by the Army.

COAS appreciated efforts of Army Formations and emphasized the need to continue assisting Civil Administration in the daunting task of relief and rehabilitation.

He also met the Aviation Team of United Arab Emirates and Civil Defense Rescue Team of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, who are engaged in the rescue and evacuation.

He lauded the response of friendly countries in

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